Monday, January 18, 2010

kaalapramaaNa

Much is being made of 2012 as the end of the world. In the Hindu literature, the perception of time is completely different. There are various accounts of time with slightly differing measurements, but here is presented what is probably the most accepted. I also consulted the book Puranic Encyclopedia by Sri Vettam Mani.

Carl Sagan in his hugely successful and influential book/TV Serial Cosmos, mentions about how the early Hindu sages were thinking in terms of billions, when the rest of the world did not yet begin to count numbers. Clearly, the table goes from 1/3600 of a second to several billion years.

For the end of Kali yuga in the current cycle, we have about 427,000 years to go! And we are in the 28th cycle of the 7th manvantara. For this manvantara to end, we have 43 cycles to go. And for this kalpa to end, we have about 7 more manvantaras. The current manu is vivaSvata. We will see the future manu-s in the next post.

At it does not end here. When the lifetime of current Brahma expires, a new Brahma takes over.